James McKenzie has become such a legendary figure that it is impossible to disentangle fact from fiction. Writers have embellished the few known facts about the man that his exploits have assumed an importance out of all proportion to their significance. Large areas of the South Island are named after the infamous James Mackenzie, and there is a monument in honour of his faithful dog Friday. . The story is still often talked about today, with many differing versions of what actually happened. Lar Mackenzie in later years (somewhat belatedly) has been recognized as an "explorer" as he was the first European to discover the now known, *Mackenzie Pass* and the *Mackenzie Basin*, and the *Lindis Pass*.James Mackenzie was a large man, with red hair, and a large red beard. He was a reiver from Ross-shire Scotland, and had emigrated to Australia in the mid-1840's, and then came to New Zealand.
Mackenzie became a familar sight in both Canterbury and Otago as he passed thought the countryside with his dog and pack bullock. Suspicions were aroused when many run holders began noticing curious disappearances of sheep. 'He was arrested by Police .In April he was found guilty by a Lyttelton Supreme Court jury and sentenced to five years' hard labour. In September 1855 a new resident magistrate at Christchurch investigated Mackenzie's case and found flaws in both the police inquiry and the trial. As a result Mackenzie was pardoned in January 1856. He probably returned to Australia, but nothing certain is known of his later life. He left his mark on the South Island high country, though. The significance of the pass where he was discovered with the sheep, and of the pastoral country it led to, were quickly appreciated by other pastoralists. The region was subsequently named Mackenzie Country.
Archive Airings.....AA.100.....Statues and carvings
Archive Airings.....AA 135......Shadows
